It was hard not to pity Shuai Zhang. For five long years the Chinese veteran has awaited the third title of her career. When it finally came after an absorbing, seesaw duel with Dayana Yastremska in Lyon, Zhang must have felt the world was against her.
Inspired by passion for her native Ukraine and the ardent support of a crowd that had taken her to their hearts over the course of the most emotionally turbulent week of her life, Yastremska’s tenacious run to the final has been the story of the tournament. Zhang’s 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory was never going to change that.
It hardly seemed fair that, when the final point was won, the applause for Zhang, a former world No 23 and twice a grand slam winner in doubles, was interspersed by boos. Yet such is the impassioned nature of the goodwill Yastremska has earned over the course of a week when she dedicated each successive win to her country.
The background to Yastremska’s campaign is familiar by now, yet it bears recounting. A week ago, the 21-year-old was sheltering alongside her family in an underground car park as Russian bombs rained down on her hometown of Odessa. After two days, she bade her parents a tearful farewell on the Romanian border before fleeing to France with her younger sister Ivanna. By the time she arrived in Lyon as a wildcard ranked 140 in the world, she had not slept for three days.
The courage and spirit she has shown since have captured hearts and minds far beyond the world of tennis. She leaves Lyon 37 places better off in the rankings – still some way off her career-high of 21 – but with her place in the affections of the global public inestimably elevated.
There were tears in defeat from the Ukrainian, just as there had been tears following her tense opening-round victory over Ana Bogdan and her semi-final win against second seed Sorana Cirstea. At a moment when tennis seems irrelevant, Yastremska’s fortitude has imbued it with fresh meaning, a feeling underlined by her pledge to donate her €14,545 (£12,000) prize money to humanitarian relief efforts in her homeland.
“The prize money I’ve earned here I’m going to give to the Ukrainian foundation to support Ukraine,” said Yastremska, who has been awarded a wildcard for Indian Wells after the withdrawal of Camila Giorgi enabled Naomi Osaka to gain direct entry.
“If Ukrainian people are watching me, I want to say you guys are so strong, you have an amazing spirit. I tried to fight for Ukraine. I want to thanks to every single person from Ukraine for standing by the Ukraine and showing people that we have a really strong spirit.”
In victory, Zhang did more than just deny Yastremska the fourth title of her fledgling career. She rewrote the emotionally compelling narrative surrounding her young opponent, whose improbable fortitude had created a seemingly unstoppable momentum around her following her recovery from match points down against Bogdan in the opening round.
“I know it’s a big, tough time for you, but you are a fighter, I saw the last three years,” said Zhang, whose win marked her first title outside China. “You grew up so quick, you played unbelievable tennis. You are the best. For sure you will win a lot of tournaments, you will keep going.”
Persistence has defined Zhang, too. Twice the champion in Guangzhou, she last entered the winners’ circle in 2017. Finals in Hobart and Nottingham have since come and gone without success, and it required an almighty effort to avoid a third successive disappointment.
In an enthralling tussle peppered with precise, powerful hitting from both women, fortune smiled on Yastremska as early as the second point, when some desperate retrieving in the face of a baseline onslaught from Zhang culminated with a backhand winner that died off the net tape. Having broken in the sixth game after some uncharacteristically wayward play by Zhang, Yastremska benefited from another stroke of good luck, a running forehand clipping the net at the end of a lung-busting rally as she held for 5-2.
Those early moments hinted that destiny might be on Yastremska’s side, yet the Ukrainian seemed perfectly capable of forging her own path, fearlessly smoking winners from the back of the court whenever the opportunity arose and defending with tenacious athleticism when Zhang got the first strike in.
Having conceded her first set of the week, the eighth-seeded Zhang showed impressive resolve. The 33-year-old fought her way back from early breaks in the second and third sets, and her determination was rewarded in the ninth game of the decider as a net cord of her own elicited an error from Yastremska that paved the way for a break point. Zhang grasped the opportunity gleefully, running her opponent from pillar to post before sealing the decisive breakthrough with a measured forehand placement. Ultimately, it was perhaps a match too far for Yastremska, whose extraordinary courage in the face of unimaginable personal anguish had made a modest WTA 250 event the focus of global attention and goodwill.
“It’s been a really tough week for me,” said Yastremska, a Ukrainian flag draped around her shoulders, just as it had been before and after each of her four previous matches.
“All this week I’ve been fighting here on court not just for myself, but for my country. I’m very happy still with [reaching] the finals, because it’s been a very long time I haven’t played in the finals.
“Today I think I didn’t have enough emotion. I was pretty tired, but the crowds here and the people since I arrived here, it’s been amazing. Everybody was supporting me a lot and I felt so much power from the people here.”